


Drive me to Drink

by Burgie



Series: WillowxAlex AU [8]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 11:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15556341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: After everything that's happened, Willow and Isabella try drinking to forget. Good thing they have their loyal steeds with them to stop them from getting too badly injured. Willow belongs to willownorthbook, Isabella belongs to SpaceUnicornDot, and Roo belongs to fieldingfreja on tumblr.





	Drive me to Drink

After everything, after the dust had settled and their bones had stopped aching after being turned from horse to human and back again (not to mention how their muscles had ached, and what it had done to go from rational human sense to 'everything is dangerous and will kill me' horse sense and back again), Willow and Izzy lay on the grassy ground of Silverglade Fields, on the other side of the fence from the circus. They stared at the clouds scudding lazily through the sky above them, the same clouds and the same sky and even the same air despite everything that had happened.

Izzy snagged a piece of grass, sticking it into her mouth and chewing on the end of it. Willow watched her, eyes half-shut, mind still trying to process everything that had happened. Ydris was... well, he wasn't exactly a bad guy. Chaotic neutral, yes. Maybe even an enemy of the druids, given what his plans were. Or maybe those were just what he thought would happen. Omens, premonitions. Maybe Ydris really did have some kind of future sight, like he'd claimed.

"Better not do that," said Izzy, plucking the grass out of her mouth. "I might develop a craving." Willow burst into tears, and Izzy sat up, frowning in concern at her friend. "What's wrong, too soon?" Willow shook her head, trying to get her breathing under control.

"Everything that happened, Pandoria and Katja's race and Darko, and this is what makes me break," said Willow, raking her fingers through her hair and causing her beanie to fall off. "Being turned into a horse." She sniffed, hiccuped.

"I don't know why you're so upset, I'm the one who loves him," said Izzy. "Even now, still, after everything that's happened, I still love him. Maybe I'm stupid."

"No, you're not," said Willow, sitting up and grabbing Izzy's shoulder.

"He's going to destroy the world, Willow, or stand by and let that happen. Pretty stupid to love someone who wants to do that. And you know better than anyone that we can't live in Pandoria. What, is he going to create some pocket dimension, just for us?"

"He's already created one," said Willow, gesturing to the circus tent behind them. Izzy shook her head.

"Maybe, I dunno," said Izzy. "I guess I'll ask him when I've gotten over everything."

"We should go get wasted," said Willow. Izzy stared at her. "What?"

"Didn't you make a vow to never drink again after the Midsummer... 'event'?" asked Izzy.

"Desperate times, my friend," said Willow, getting to her feet and pulling Izzy up with her. "Now, come on, Fort Pinta may not have a bar anymore thanks to my lovely friend, but also thanks to said friend, I happen to know the location of every bar on Jorvik and how reputable they are. She has a star system." She pulled it up on her phone, showing it to Izzy. Each bar was listed and could be sorted by location, the quality of the liquor by taste and how fast it got you drunk, how expensive it was, if there was food served there, when the closing hours were, and who ran the place and who frequented it. There was also a secondary list of Jorvegians who could be hit up for a good time with their liquor cabinet.

"Well, that's handy," said Izzy. Willow nodded.

"Justin is closest but he's drunk most of the time now anyway so let's hit Dundull," said Willow. "There's a nice bar there that was a hunting lodge back in the day. Not anymore, of course, especially since the Jorvik Rangers were formed."

"Let's go," said Izzy. She whistled over Copper, who had been grazing nearby, while Willow did the same with Hawkeye. Then, both horses took their riders speedily towards Mistfall, the two girls making it into a race.

Upon arriving, the horses were left outside the bar and the two girls headed inside, walking straight up to the counter.

"A bottle of your finest hard liquor, barkeep," said Willow, placing a star coin down on the counter. The grizzled-looking woman who seemed to be some distant relation to a bear grabbed a bottle off the back shelf after examining the star coin for authenticity.

"Leave the bottle," said Izzy, giving the barkeep another coin. Another bottle joined the first, and Izzy held it aloft and turned to Willow. "To forgetting what just happened."

"Let's get wasted," said Willow, clinking their bottles together. And they drank.

The alcohol tasted absolutely vile but, according to Roo (who was an expert in this field), the worse it tasted, the better it was. And it certainly did work fast, giving Willow the most pleasant buzz after only a few mouthfuls. Now, she could laugh about the fact that she'd been a horse.

"I'm surprised the bartender didn't ask us 'why the long face'," said Izzy, sending Willow off into a round of hooting, hollering laughter. Willow clutched her stomach, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks.

"Baby, I'm solid gold," said Willow, causing Izzy to spit out some of her drink rorm the unexpected joke.

"He didn't just put a ring on it, he made me into ring material," said Izzy.

"A trophy wife," said Willow. They howled. But just as Willow's laughter trailed off into wheezing, Izzy's laughter turned into sobs. Willow looked at her, bleary-eyed but concerned. "What's wrong?"

"A trophy wife who tortured him with that stupid Cosmic Clock," said Izzy, slurring the words slightly. Tears continued to pour down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, is'salright," said Willow, pushing the bottle towards her. "Drink. Calm down. Forget and be free~" She swayed, then slumped back. Unfortunately, as she was on the barstool, she slumped all the way back and landed on the floor with a thud. "Oooh, fuck."

"Willow!" Izzy cried, leaping down after her and hovering over her. "Noo, don't die, you've got so much to live for!"

"M'not dead," Willow murmured, brushing her away with her hand. "Just neck. It'll get better." As she lay there, warmth filled her neck, accompanied by cracking sounds and sensations as her neck reformed. She sat back up, rolling her neck to crack it. "There, all better." She held her hand out. "I dropped my drink."

"Here," said Izzy, tossing the open bottle to her. Liquid sloshed onto the ground, much to the displeasure of the already-annoyed bartender.

"I think you two have had enough," she said, walking around from behind the bar and hoisting the two of them to their feet. Both girls complained at the rough treatment.

"But I'm still miserable!" said Izzy.

"Yeah!" Willow agreed, slinging her arm around her friend's shoulders.

When they were kicked out on their rumps, the barkeeper handed them a few more bottles of alcohol.

"Now, get," said the bartender, shooing them off with her hands. Hawkeye and Copper both looked nervous as their miserable riders climbed aboard, pinning their ears back and shifting uncertainly. But they obeyed the instructions to walk, then trot, but refused to go above a canter.

"Come on, boy, let's go on an adventure!" Izzy cried, digging her heels into Copper's sides. Copper shook his head, snorting. Sighing, Izzy resigned herself to live forever at a canter. Hawkeye was also refusing his rider, not wanting to go along with her silliness. The role of a Guardian, both horses knew, in addition to whatever the Pandorian prophecy meant, was to protect their riders, who were human and thus prone to mistakes and misadventure. Just as horses had been doing since the days when they were the only form of transport.

It was a very long and very hard night for two horses who only wanted to protect their riders. Somehow, both horses managed to dig their hooves in enough to prevent their riders from plummeting from the edges of cliffs. Unfortunately, though, they could only protect their riders from accidents on horseback. There wasn't much stopping Willow and Isabella from tumbling out of the saddles and staggering around in the forest, drinking deeply from their bottles and cursing Ydris' name to the stars.

"Fuck that sexy bastard!" Isabella screamed, tilting her head back and staring up at the stars. She took a drink. "I mean, not like that. Not now, I'm mad at him. But fuck him and everything he stands for!"

"Fuck the druids too!" Willow hollered. "And destiny and argh!" She screamed, knowing that the Rangers would mistake it for the scream of an elk. Isabella joined in her screaming, both of them lifting their voices up to the night. Hawkeye and Copper flattened their ears, looking at each other in concern. Humans could be so weird sometimes.

"Hey, maybe the elk are actually just drunken idiots screaming in the woods," said Isabella, taking another long swig of her drink.

"We're not drunken idiots," said Willow, sounding offended. "We're sad drunks, there's a difference. Sad and angry at the world and messy, yes, but not idiots."

"My mistake," said Isabella, shrugging.

They continued on until the wee hours of the morning, when a Jorvik Warmblood walked up to the ranger station and gently knocked his hoof against the door. Alonso opened the door, bleary-eyed, his hair still mussed. He blinked and rubbed his eyes when he saw the rather long face staring at him through the open doorway.

"Hello there, fella," said Alonso. "Are you lost?" Copper tossed his head, snorting and glancing back in the direction of the forest before he looked back at Alonso. Immediately, Alonso understood.

"Oh," said Alonso, his eyes widening. Any lingering fatigue evaporated, his ranger training taking over. This wasn't the first time he'd been informed of an accident via a horse on its own, Mistfall could be quite a dangerous place what with all of the cliffs and large roots and trees, on top of the gloomy atmosphere.

It took Alonso only a few minutes to get dressed, brush his hair and wash his face, and then he quickly saddled up Mardy and headed off into the forest after Copper. The Jorvik Warmblood kept looking back at Alonso, making sure that the ranger was following, and trotted on ahead. Alonso only became more and more concerned as the trail became longer and headed in the direction of the wolves' den.

"You can go faster if you want, boy, Mardy can keep up," said Alonso. Copper snorted but didn't speed up. Alonso noticed that the horse did look tired, so it was possible that he couldn't go any faster. Or maybe he was following some kind of trail as well... Alonso couldn't be sure, he'd heard that some horses in Jorvik had special bonds with their riders but he wasn't sure how much he believed those stories. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't.

Eventually, the horse stopped beside a tree that stuck out of the cliff at an angle, nickering up into the leaves.

"Well, yeah, that does look weird, but... oh!" said Alonso, terror singing through him when he saw the rather small form of a young woman lying on top of the tree, her mouth open in a snore. "Oh dear, we have to get her down!"

Copper began to walk over towards a slope that led up onto the cliff, but Alonso clicked his tongue to call the horse back.

"No, don't go up there, you might accidentally knock her off or startle her awake," said Alonso. "We have to go about this carefully." Copper tossed his head, clearly disagreeing, but came back down to stand by the tree.

Carefully, Alonso uncoiled a rope from his saddlebag and stood on Mardy's back to carefully loop it around Isabella's waist. Tugging on it, he carefully sat back down and backed Mardy up.

"Too bad the reception here is too bad to call for backup, and I don't trust just leaving her here," said Alonso. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. This was going to be a tricky one.

Somehow, Alonso managed to get Isabella onto the ground without hurting her too much, catching her and then lying her down on the ground. He frowned down at her, concerned, while Copper lipped at her face. Isabella made a face, finally sitting up and rubbing the slobber off it, both her own and the horse's.

"Ew, Copper, gross," said Isabella. She saw Alonso and blushed. "Oh. Hi, Alonso."

"Isabella, hi," said Alonso, smiling gently at her. "How are you feeling? Are you hurt?"

"No, just..." Isabella winced, holding her head. "Hungover."

"You're lucky your horse came and found me," said Alonso. "You could've fallen off that tree otherwise, broken your neck, your spine, anything awful could've happened."

"Huh. How'd I even get up there?" asked Isabella, squinting up at the tree. "Unless I slipped and fell off Copper." Copper's only response was that she had been stupid. "I don't suppose you know where Willow is?"

"There's another lost girl?" asked Alonso, paling.

"Yeah, Willow Northbook," said Isabella. "Purple hair, rides a horse called Hawkeye when she's not on Rebel, has a fox named Brownie."

"Hopefully her hair won't blend in with the flowers," said Alonso. "We'll go looking for her. Sorry I don't make a habit of keeping painkillers in my ranger kit but here's some water." He handed her a bottle, which Isabella gratefully took.

"Thanks," said Isabella, drinking some of it. It definitely made her mouth feel better. "Let's go look for Willow. Hopefully Hawk's with her."

A few minutes of riding brought them to the permanent campsite that was set up on top of a cliff, one of the many in Mistfall. Hawkeye stood out the front of the tent, near the firepit, and picked his head up when the two approached.

"Willow here?" asked Isabella. Hawkeye tossed his head in the direction of the tent, where snores were emitting. Loud snores.

"Well, at least she's in good health," said Alonso, smiling fondly.

Roo was called to the ranger station as soon as she woke up the next morning. Contrary to popular belief, she didn't wake up with a hangover every morning. Sometimes, she didn't even drink at all. But when she at last arrived at the ranger station, highly confused and just a bit concerned, she felt like she could use that drink.

At the little kitchen table, Willow sat with Isabella, both girls pressing ice bags to their foreheads while glasses of water sat in front of them. There was an open box of painkillers on the table, too, and both girls looked dead-eyed and miserable.

"What happened here?" asked Roo.

"Depressed drinking," said Willow.

"Drinking to forget," said Isabella. Roo rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have to be so dramatic?" said Roo, sitting down at the table with them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is your girlfriend doubting herself? Is your boyfriend actually a Pandorian who wants to see this world destroyed?" said Willow, glaring at her.

"My girlfriend still has trouble being indoors sometimes," said Roo. "But there are better ways of dealing with this than drinking."

"The barfly preaching to us about not drinking," said Willow. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"What, are you just going to go get drunk whenever something bad happens?" asked Roo.

"Yeah," said Willow and Isabella at the same time. Roo snorted.

"At least call me next time," said Roo. "At the very least, I'll be able to help you girls handle your liquor and know your limits. And deal with hangovers."

"And if there does need to be a next time, maybe don't go drinking in Mistfall," said Alonso. "I know that we have some very famous alcohol here but this terrain can be dangerous enough when you're sober."

"Alright," said Willow, shrugging.

"Besides," said Roo. "I'm a frequent visitor to some bars so I can probably even get you discount drinks."

"What a friend to have when everything's going to hell, huh?" said Willow, throwing her arm around her friend before the movement caused instant regret. "Ughhhh my head." She rested her head, nose-down, against the table.

"Lightweights," said Roo.

"Just... be careful, okay?" said Alonso. "Last night could have ended so much worse."

"And probably would have, without Copper and Hawkeye," said Isabella.

"Probably," said Alonso, nodding.

"But alright, we'll be careful," said Willow.

"I'll look after them," said Roo.

"Hopefully it's a while until the next time," said Alonso.

"And speaking of, Wills, I thought you said you wouldn't drink again," said Roo, looking down at her miserable friend.

"I was struggling," said Willow. "It helped me forget. And now I'm filled with regret." Roo patted her on the head.

"There, there," said Roo. "You'll learn how to handle it." Willow wasn't sure if Roo meant the alcohol or everything, but it was probably a bit of both. Either way, she hoped that she'd learn how to handle it soon. Or maybe things would calm down. It wasn't likely, but one could still hope. And, in the meantime, drink.


End file.
